


Little Crystals

by megavery48



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2018-11-17 09:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11272905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megavery48/pseuds/megavery48
Summary: Ruby is finally meeting her next door neighbor, and getting a little more than she bargained for.





	1. Lemon Pie

_ Deep breath, Ruby.  _ She thought to herself. Ruby held her hand over the door. It had been months since this girl had moved next door, and Ruby was only now talking to her. The beautiful girl with the long blue hair. Ruby shook her head, as if she could actually shake the thoughts away. The longer she stood in front of the door the more confidence that slipped away. 

“Come on,” She muttered. Finally, her fist connected with the door. Quiet footsteps approached, and the door opened. 

“Hello?” The girl asked. Her bangs were positioned so only one deep blue eye could be seen. Her lips were the color of twilight. 

“H-Hi!” Ruby stuttered. Her brain shut off completely.  _ Why was she here?  _ “Um, my name’s Ruby. I live next door and I was-I mean if you-I,” God, what a dunce. Her words were spilling out of her like a waterfall. The girl opened the door wider.

“Sugar or flour?” She was walking into the kitchen. Ruby couldn't help but stare at her hips. They swayed back and forth as she walked. Ruby swallowed.

“Excuse me?” Ruby stepped into the apartment with slight wonder. The walls were robin egg blue. Little white swirls covered them. 

“You're holding a measuring cup, so I'm assuming you either need sugar or flour,” After a moment of digging in her cabinet she pulled out two plastic boxes. “I’m Sapphire, by the way,” She stuck out her hand at Ruby. Ruby shook it gingerly. Sapphire’s hands and arms were covered in small tattoos. The vines crawled up her arms and into her shirt. 

“Ruby,” She murmured.

“You already said that,” Sapphire’s eye crinkled with a smile. Ruby felt like she was going to melt right then and there. 

“I-I need sugar. A cup,” Sapphire put the sugar down on the table and opened the lid. 

“How long have you lived here?” She took the cup out of Ruby’s hand and dipped it in the sugar. 

“Two years,” Ruby swallowed again. Her saliva felt like cement running down her throat. 

“I moved in a couple months ago,” She put the cup in Ruby’s hand. 

“I know,” Ruby’s hand was shaking so much she was afraid she would drop it. She casually moved the cup behind her back. 

Sapphire gave her a look of confusion. After a moment of painful silence, she picked up the boxes. “What are you making?”

“Lemon pie,” Her word slipped out quickly. An awkward silence filled the room again. “Well thanks for the sugar, I’ll be on my way,”

“Thanks for stopping by!” Sapphire said. She lead Ruby to the front door. The back of the door was also a light blue. 

“You must like blue,” Ruby said. She clamped a hand over her mouth. “I mean, I um. Well blue is a nice color. I-”

“I do,” Sapphire’s smile made Ruby’s heart into puddle. “It’s my favorite color.” Ruby stepped out and Sapphire closed the door. As she fumbled with her keys she heard soft singing. The walls in that place were thinner than paper, and Sapphire’s singing drifted through, which made Ruby smile.

 

Her apartment was a mess. Dishes covered most of the available counter space. Different articles of clothing littered the floor and surrounding furniture. The TV quietly played an episode of  _ Dateline.  _ Ruby dumped the sugar into the bowl and mixed it together. Lemon pie? Why the hell had she said lemon pie? She was making cookies. A sigh seemed to echo through her body.

“It’s not like lemon pie would impress her,” Ruby ran a hand mixer through the dough and plopped it on a cookie sheet. These cookies had to be perfect. She had promised Garnet the best cookies she could make. Ruby glanced at the clock on the wall. Three hours until she had to go. Sapphire’s singing interrupted her train of thought. Ruby turned down the volume on the TV and listened. Her voice was a sheet of ice that sent chills down Ruby’s spine.  _ I could get used to this.  _ Ruby thought, and her mind launched her into another daydream of Sapphire.  

The timer on the oven went off and Ruby jumped. She ran to put on her oven mitts and take the cookies out. They were golden brown. “Perfect,” She whispered. The clothes on the floor called for her to put them away, but instead she threw some of them on. After the cookies were cool enough she put them on a big plate and covered them with cling wrap. “Shit!” Ruby looked at the clock and realized that she was going to be late. Her back slammed into the door. As she raced out of her apartment, she ran into something. 

A soft  _ ow  _ came from beneath Ruby. “Are you okay?” Ruby looked down to see Sapphire looking at her. “Are you okay?” Sapphire repeated. 

“Who cares? I fell on you!” Ruby stood up and helped Sapphire. 

“I do!” Sapphire said. She grabbed Ruby’s arm. A small cut was dripping blood. “Here, let's go to my apartment and patch this up,” 

“I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'm late,” She shook her arm out. Her finger jabbed the call button for the elevator. 

“Where are you going?” Sapphire slid next to her, and Ruby shivered involuntarily. 

“Little Crystals. It's a daycare,” The elevator shuttered open. Sapphire followed Ruby in. 

“Really? I volunteer there! I started last week.”

“No way,” Ruby and Sapphire locked eyes, or eye, since Sapphire’s right eye was covered with hair. “I do too. Mondays and Saturdays,”

 “Tuesdays and Sundays,” Sapphire clicked the button for the first floor. The vines that twisted around her hand turned to icicles closer to her back. “It's Sunday, isn't it? Why are you coming today?”

“It's one of the kids birthday. I always make cookies on their birthday and try to stop in,” The elevator moved down slowly. Sapphire volunteered at the same place that she did? It seemed like a weird coincidence. 

“What happened to the lemon pie?” 

“What?” Ruby was startled out of her thoughts. The lemon pie. “Oh yeah, that. I-I um well… I’m not really sure why I told you that,” Sapphire started to giggle. It made Ruby’s heart go into overdrive. “I was really nervous,”

She stopped giggling. “Why were you nervous?”

The evaluator became about sixty degrees hotter. Ruby ran her thumb over that tattoo on her hand. It had been her coping mechanism since she had got it. She coughed. The silence was palpable in the air. “Well…” the doors opened, but neither of them got out. “I just wanted to make a good impression,” 

“Oh,” Sapphire stepped out. Ruby couldn't see her face, but her voice sounded sad. She turned and smiled. “What are you doing? You said you were late. Let's get going!” Sapphire took her hand and dragged her out the building. The whole time Ruby was blushing. Her whole body was almost red. 

 

They ran down the street. After a quick turn around the corner, Ruby and Sapphire slammed into the doors. 

“Ruby?” Steven was sitting towards the entrance. He was playing with little action figures. “Ruby!” He got up and hugged her. Steven was ten years old. His hair was dark and curly. “Oh my  goodness, you're ten minutes late!” Steven’s scream had attracted the attention of a couple other kids. They ran at Ruby, screaming her name. She hugged and kissed each one. 

“Where's Garnet?” Ruby asked. Connie-a ten year old-grinned. The kids pushed Ruby towards the back room. Some of them detached from the group, and they went to get Sapphire. After almost falling several times, Ruby entered the back room. “Hey munchkin,” Ruby said. Garnet looked up with stars in her eyes. 

“Ruby! You came!” The little girl sprinted from the corner and engulfed Ruby.

“Of course I did. Did you think I would forget?” Garnet started playing with Ruby’s afro. 

“I didn't think you forgot. You were late,” Garnet smiled. She was a beautiful black girl. Her eyes were a deep blue that was almost purple. “Is that your girlfriend?” Sapphire was shyly standing in the entrance with a tidal wave of children.

Her laugh filled the room with lights. “No, dear. I just met her today,” Garnet stuck out her tongue. 

“Did you bring treats?” When Ruby nodded she jumped up and down. 

“Okay kids, you know the drill,” The children all sat down in a circle with Garnet in the middle. Ruby pulled out a candle, a lighter, and the biggest cookie. She put the candle in the cookie and lit it. The rest of the children sang, and cookies were passed out. 

“Oh, Ruby, you're here,” Ruby whipped around to see Ms. Quartz behind her. 

“Hello Rose.” Ruby said and handed her a cookie. 

“Thank you for doing this,” She tried to protest but Rose stopped her. “I know I say this every time, but the children never stop talking about you. These birthday things, the holiday parties. I would be lost without you,” 

“Really, Rose, it’s no big deal. I love cooking and I love kids. Might as well do something with that,” Ruby smiled at Ms Quartz. She was tall, with long blonde hair she always dyed pink. Her brown eyes were caring, but hard at the edges. It was as if she’d seen something unimaginable. Ruby had always wondered about that look in her eyes, but she had never had the courage to ask. 

“I see you’ve met one of our new volunteers,” Rose gestured to Sapphire. She was sitting on the floor reading a story to a couple of the younger kids. “She’s a doll, really. The kids love her,”

“Yeah,” Ruby smiled as she watched Sapphire. Her voice fluctuated with each character. The children in front of her latched onto every word. “She’s something alright,” 

Rose turned to her suddenly. “How’s your job working out right now?” There was a frown on her lips and a stormy look in her eyes. 

Ruby’s gaze slowly drifted from Sapphire to Rose. She could sense that Rose was about to say something Ruby wasn’t going to like. “I mean, it’s fine. Nothing to complain about besides my feet. Why?”

Rose took a breath, and let it out slowly. She took Ruby’s hands in hers. There was an intensity in her voice that Ruby had never heard before. “I need you here. Full time,” Ruby blinked slowly. Full time? Why? Rose would never give up this job. She loved kids more than anyone Ruby knew. “I know it’s a lot to ask, to have you quit your job and work here every weekday,” She looked away for a moment. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I can’t be here as much as I need to. That’s all I can tell you right now.”

“Rose-”

“Don’t. Please don’t say anything right now. Just think about it. I’ll pay you for every minute you’re here, I promise,” She glanced over at Sapphire. “I asked her too. And she said she could. You wouldn’t be alone,” Ruby was stunned into silence. Rose wouldn’t be around? And working with Sapphire… Would that be a dream come true or a living nightmare? Rose squeezed her hands, then wiped away her tears with the back of her wrist. “Think about it?” I nodded. Her smile returned as if the last two minutes hadn’t happened. “Alright kids!” She turned to the room full of sugar-spiked children, “Let’s do some coloring!” There were screams of excitement and groans of unhappiness. Ruby watched as Sapphire helped the littlest ones into chairs. Ruby was rooted in place, her mind spinning. She wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted, and she only had a little while to figure it out.

“Ruby?” A quiet voice came from below. “Are you ok?”

Ruby looked down at Garnet holding her thigh. Her face was creased into a look of concern. “Yeah, munchkin. I’m fine. Are you gonna draw me a picture?” Ruby’s voice sounded fake to her, but to Garnet it was all she needed. 

Her face broke into a smile. “I’m gonna draw you a frog!” And off she went. A smile spread onto Ruby’s face. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to decide after all.


	2. Budding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire has a late night. Alcohol can make things a little foggy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops it's been over a year... Anyways! Enjoy this little chapter while I try to crank out some more. Maybe the next chapter won't be in August of 2019....

It was as if the walls were caving in. The darkness swallowed up any noises that entered the room. Sapphire turned on her phone and started scrolling through twitter. She could never sleep well at night anymore. Some thought or idea or fear kept her up until the early morning. Her restless fingers were aching for something more than a touchscreen. She got up and navigated through the dark to the small desk that barely fit inside her room. Her hands fumbled to find the switch that turned on the lamp.

“Ah! Bright!” Sapphire squeezed her eyes closed as the light burned her pupils. “Fuck fuck fuck,” Papers littered the desk. Some were doodles, others were half-finished drawings. Colored pencils, pens, sharpies, and paint covered the parts of the space not covered in paper. Sapphire picked up some of the bottles of paint. She mixed a couple colors together and took a paintbrush to the wall. Her landlord hadn’t told her anything about painting on the walls, so Sapphire assumed it wasn’t going to result in a thousand dollar fine. She thought about what to add to the growing mural appearing in her bedroom.

It had started as a single rose. It bloomed from the center of the wall. Vines and leaves dripped from the petals and became jewels and water and even more flowers. It was a mess that went in every direction and every angle. Sapphire’s eyes lit up with a slightly dangerous idea. She pushed her desk into the corner of the room, threw the papers to the ground, and balanced on the top of it. She took one of the jeweled vines and extended it to the corner between two walls and the ceiling. The vine produced a sugilite gem in the shape of a plum. Sapphire was so concentrated on painting that when her phone chimed, she almost fell off the desk. She fished her cell phone out of her pocket with one hand.

 

_What’re you doing this early in the morning?_

It was Ruby. Sapphire smiled fondly at her neighbor’s text. They’d exchanged numbers for a groupchat with Ms. Quartz about Little Crystals. It still surprised Sapphire that she had said yes to so quickly.

 

_Making enough noise to wake you up, I guess_

_Ha. You’re funny. But for real what’re you doing? If you’re usually going to be making this much noise at 3 am I should buy ear plugs._

_Just painting. I can keep it down if you want._

_You’re fine. Just messing with you._

Sapphire wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about Ruby. She had never seen her around until yesterday, and now they were going to work together. The kids seemed to love her, so she must be kind. She was a little awkward, but who wasn’t? And she was beyond cute, almost to the point where it distracted Sapphire a little too much. She could-No. No that was a bad idea. She shouldn’t fuck up this friendship with her late night ramblings yet. But Sapphire was itching to get to get to know Ruby, and what better time than early in the morning.

Sapphire took a deep breath and sent send. The little blue bar inched across the screen slowly, as if taunting her to turn on airplane mode and pretend it had never happened. Her phone chirped, meaning the text had sent.

 

_Wanna hang out, since you’re up?_

The three little dots appeared in the corner of her screen. Sapphire held her breath as the dots traveled back and forth. And then it disappeared. Sapphire’s held breath flew from her body. She sighed and stuck her phone back in her pocket. She shouldn’t of even gotten her hopes up. As soon as she pushed her paintbrush back to the wall there was a knock at the door. Puzzled, Sapphire got off her desk and walked quietly towards the door. Through the peephole she saw A head of curly brown hair. Her heart sped up in her chest. Was it? She opened the door with a creak and a pop.

“H-Hey!” Ruby said. She smiled and put her hands in her pockets. Her feet shifted nervously. “How’re you?”

“Good!” Sapphire said a little too enthusiastically. She coughed and extended her arm. “Do ya wanna come in?” Ruby nodded and stepped into her tiny apartment. Sapphire blinked just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Ruby’s brown hair curled around her head in every direction. She was short, only a couple inches shorter than Sapphire. She had warm brown eyes that were now looking everywhere but at Sapphire. She was in jeans and a red t-shirt. Sapphire tried to peel her eyes away from how the fabric stuck to her torso. Was it suddenly hot in here? She cleared her throat and Ruby jumped a bit.

“I uh, I’m not sure if you drink, but I brought some beer,” She set down a six pack of beer bottles on Sapphire’s small white kitchen “table”.

“I do actually! I drink probably a little more than a should. I’m kind of a lightweight,” Ruby’s whole face cracked into a smile, and she laughed. Sapphire caught herself with a stupid grin she couldn’t wipe away. “Sit sit!” She said, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks by walking to the sofa. “I was painting, in my room. But I’m kind of in a talking mood right now,” Ruby looked from the bedroom door to Sapphire and back again. “If that’s not ok we can turn on the TV or something,”

“No no no it’s fine!” Her dark fingers wrapped around the cardboard beer holder and brought it to the coffee table. “I’d love to get to know you, since we’re gonna be working together and all,”

Sapphire grinned. She couldn’t stop smiling, actually. It was like Ruby brought with her a permanent aura of happiness. Ruby grabbed two beers and popped the top off of both of them with the bottle opener on her keys. She handed one to Sapphire. Corona, she hated that stuff. Nevertheless, she accepted it with a smile and took a small drink. “Well,” She said between drinks, “I’m Sapphire. I’m 22, just recently out of art school with more debt than I could ever dream of,” Sapphire looked down at her hands. Her fingers felt over the light green and blue vines that started at her wrist. She followed them around her elbow and up into her t-shirt.

“Art school?” Ruby said with laughter in her voice. “I would have never pegged you as an art major,”

“Oh shush. What did you major in anyways?” Ruby’s smile slightly faltered.

“Uh, well,” She took a swig from the beer. “I went into accounting,”

“Accounting!” Sapphire busted out with a laugh. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, no, I’m not,” Ruby tried to talk over Sapphire’s laughing, but she was doubled in two. Sapphire couldn’t believe one beer had already made her a little tipsy. She was such a lightweight.

“I’m sorry,” She said, catching her breath. “It’s just. You don’t look like you would ever want to be anywhere near numbers. If anything you look like some hip stay-at-home mom that runs a mommy blog,” Ruby frowned. Fear pushed itself into Sapphire’s chest, making her already quickened heart beat even faster. “I-I’m sorry if that’s rude. I don’t mean you’re stupid or anything… I just-”

“Oh no it’s ok!” Ruby placed a hand on Sapphire’s arm. Her body jerked slightly and her gaze landed on Ruby. “I guess I haven’t seen myself from someone else's point of view, you know?” Her voice sounded thin, like it was about to break. There was a slight tension in the air. A whispered what if that Sapphire thought only she could hear. Breaths were held. Pulses stopped. Heat transferred from skin to skin. And then it was broken. “You really think I’d run a mommy blog?” Ruby’s hand slid off of Sapphire’s arm, taking all it’s warmth with it.

“Well duh, with that soccer mom haircut?” Ruby smiled at Sapphire and chugged the rest of the beer she had been nursing. Sapphire was already on her second. There was a silence that Sapphire wasn’t really sure how to fill. The questions that had been sitting in the back of her mind since she met Ruby were all gone. Words stuck to the back of her throat. She couldn't push them out.

“So… Are you single?”

“Am I-what?” Sapphire choked on the liquid in her mouth. She coughed for a bit. Ruby just stared at her with mild concern. “I mean, yeah, I am. I had a relationship a bit ago. Didn’t go so hot,” Jesus, was Ruby trying to kill her?

“It didn’t?” Ruby leaned in. Her brown eyes warm and soft. A half smile appeared on her lips. Sapphire found herself grinning again.

“No. He cheated on me with… a couple women. I should have seen it coming,” She was rambling. She could feel herself rambling but she couldn’t stop. “I had this feeling in my gut that he was, but I just kept pretending I was paranoid. Then he just. Told me. He just told me,” Sapphire had gotten so lost in her story she had almost forgotten Ruby was sitting there. “I'm sorry,” Blush spread across her face. “I ramble a lot…”

“Hey no,” Ruby put down her beer. “You’re not rambling, you’re talking. I asked about it.” Her voice got quiet. “I’m sorry he hurt you like that,”

“It’s okay,” Sapphire matched her soft tone. “It’s in the past,”

 

Sapphire’s alarm buzzed and her eyes shot open. She was on the couch, with a knit blanket on top of her. Groggily she found the source of the noise on the coffee table. The alarm finally shut off. There were two texts waiting for Sapphire. Both of them were from Ruby.

 

_Hope you slept well! I’ll see you on Monday? I had a lot of fun btw_

Sapphire sat up on the couch. Her neck ached from the awkward angle it had sat at. Even with the pain in her back and neck, she couldn’t help but break into a cheesy grin. Last night was invisible to Sapphire, but she didn’t need to remember it all to know she had a good time.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work so feel free to leave suggestions/criticism! Thank you for reading!


End file.
